Quietly, major online retailers Amazon.com and Best Buy have increased their minimum purchase amounts required to get your merchandise shipped for free. Amazon has gone from a decade-plus tradition of free shipping on orders of $25 and up to requiring you to shell out at least $35, while Best Buy has gone from free shipping on pretty much anything to a $25 minimum (though the ship-to-store option is still free). Says the quiet announcement on Amazon.com:

Amazon’s minimum order size for free shipping has changed to $35. This is the first time in more than a decade that Amazon has altered the minimum order for free shipping in the U.S.

While Best Buy has been doing pretty well lately, the slash and burn of its media sections may come back to haunt the retailer in the long, as there are less loss leader reasons to visit the store weekly (although the new My Best Buy rewards program is tempting shoppers into stores with the promise of exclusive coupons). We’ll see how this plays out for the companies involved, but when shopping this holiday season, make sure to save a few items in reserve if you’re planning on cheaping out on shipping costs.

Features

Most people think they have to overhaul a sprawling basement or game room in order to create a true home theater experience. But that’s certainly not the case. You can create a true home theater, a room that lets you escape from the outside world and immerse yourself in top-notch audio and larger-than-life video in so much as a spare room.

AMX-controlled smart home by MediaTech Intelligent Home Systems (www.mediatechliving.com)

Intelligent homes are nothing new. Manufacturers like Crestron, AMX, Control4, Elan, Savant, and others have been playing the home automation game for years, decades even. These OG home automation systems require a custom integrator to install, usually have some hard-wired element, and are intuitive, sophisticated, feature-rich, and highly functional.

You were blessed with lots of windows and your living room has incredible natural light. So what’s the problem? Oh, is glare ruining your TV picture? Read on to find expert advice to fix this annoying problem.

You are trying to watch a film in high-def on Apple TV, your daughter is listening to Spotify while she’s doing homework, your wife is working on her laptop, your toddler is playing on the iPad, and your son is, gulp, doing some serious PC gaming. All this online action can bring your home network to its knees.